Registration REQUIRED by 4pm on March 5, 2025, in order to attend this event.
Please join the Harriman Institute and the Weatherhead East Asian Institute for a panel discussion examining the long-term consequences of Soviet nuclear weapons tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. Speakers include: Shyngys Zipatolla, Tuleova Bakhytgul, and Zarina Kakenova. Moderated by Elizabeth Wishnick.
The speakers are part of a research group from Karaganda Buketov University (Kazakhstan) studying the long-term consequences of Soviet nuclear weapons tests at the Semipalatinsk test site. Their research addresses issues such as the impact of these tests on the health and well-being of local communities, a comparative analysis of nuclear test sites worldwide, and the contributions of domestic scientists to understanding and mitigating the consequences of nuclear tests. This work is particularly relevant due to increased international interest in the development of a nuclear power plant in Kazakhstan, approved by referendum in October 2024.
Shyngys Zipatolla, Senior Lecturer, Department of World History and International Relations, Karaganda Buketov University, Karaganda, Kazakhstan
Tuleuova Bakhytgul, Professor, Department of World History and International Relations, Karaganda Buketov University (Karaganda, Kazakhstan). Member of the project group of grant financing of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The topic of the project is “Consequences of the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site as a result of the policy of “nuclear colonialism”. Previously, she was the head and member of research projects on the problems of national history, historical personalities, and the issues of interethnic relations.
Dr. Zarina Kakenova is a senior lecturer at L.N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University and a fellow of the U.S.-CARNet program, currently serving as a visiting scholar at the Weatherhead East Asian Institute.
